Roddick, Ginepri Dash American Hopes at French Open

Posted on May 31, 2006

No. 5 seed Andy Roddick said good riddance to the claycourt season Tuesday, retiring in his second consecutive claycourt match, trailing Spaniard Alberto Martin 4-6, 5-7, 0-1 in a first-round exit at the French Open.

The American was still suffering the effects of a twisted ankle last week in his first match at the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf where he also retired.

It was Roddick's third opening-round loss in six attempts at the French, dropping his record to 4-6.

"What do you think?" Roddick asked the trainer after dropping his serve to begin the third set. "Do you think it's dangerous?"

While the trainer said no, Roddick decided to abandon the match anyhow to rehab for the grasscourt season, historically his high point of the year.

"I haven't gotten too much practice time," Roddick said. "Early on in the match, I kind of tweaked it a little bit. At 5-all when I tried to go back for an overhead, I kind of caught it the wrong way again. It started affecting the way I landed on my serve. Not much else was working besides my serve. It was a lost cause, I think."
FOLDHERE

Roddick's countryman and No. 17 seed Robby Ginepri also exited in the first round, losing the darkness-delayed completion of his match against another Spaniard, Albert Montanes, in four sets.

No. 18 Thomas Johansson was the other seeded loser on the day, still struggling to return from an eye injury in a five-set loss to Belgian Christophe Rochus.

Seeded winners Tuesday were (4) Ivan Ljubicic (d. Berlocq, bagel in the second), (9) Fernando Gonzalez (d. Safin in four), (14) Lleyton Hewitt (d. Hernych 6-0 in the fourth), (15) David Ferrer (d. Garcia-Lopez, bagel in the third), (19) Marcos Baghdatis (d. Portas in four), (22) Dominik Hrbaty (d. Roitman in five), (23) Tommy Haas (d. German countryman Schuettler), (25) Gael Monfils (d. Murray 6-1 in the fifth), (27) Olivier Rochus (d. Faurel), (28) Fernando Verdasco (d. Chela in four), and (29) Paul-Henri Mathieu (d. Phau).

Un-seeds into the second round were Italian Davide Sanguinetti (d. countryman Bracciali in four), France's Florent Serra (d. Vik in four), Jeremy Chardy (d. Bjorkman), Mathieu Montcourt (d. Daniel in four) and Julien Benneteau (d. Tipsarevic in four), Belgian Dick Norman (d. Massa), Mexico's Oscar Hernandez (d. Simon), Germany's Alexander Waske (d. Vicente in four) and Dieter Kindlmann (d. Sabau), Argentine Juan Monaco (d. Van Gemerden), Serb Novak Djokovic (d. Horna who retired with injury), Croat Ivo Karlovic (d. Patience in three tiebreaks), Czech Jiri Vanek (d. Mahut in four), and Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (d. Ascione in four).

Wednesday's highlights include (30) Moya vs. Youzhny, (3) Nalbandian vs. Gasquet, (1) Federer vs. Falla, (6) Davydenko vs. Saretta, (24) Ferrero vs. Kohlschreiber, (31) Tursunov vs. Henman, (32) Massu vs. Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, and (10) Gaudio vs. Korolev.